Your corporate image is one of the most valuable assets of your company, be certain that your B2B Search Engine Marketing (B2B SEM) efforts (or non-efforts) are creating the positive, professional first impression that accurately reflects your corporate image.
To properly evaluate the effectiveness of your B2B SEM efforts - begin by clearly identifying who your main target audience is. While you may be perfectly aware of the companies your firm is targeting - you also need to know which individual positions within those firms you are targeting. Identifying your target audience will allow you to clearly understand how your website needs to successfully present your corporate message. Take a look at your site, is it designed for your target audience? What is your target audience looking to find on your site? Will your target audience find what they are looking for on your site in a clean, simple, logical manner?
Find out how Search Engines are presenting your website to your target audience. Start with the top 3 Search Engines: Google, Yahoo! and MSN.
Our research into B2B shows that Google is the major player in the increasing importance of online product research by companies, however you should also be aware of how your website is being presented at the other 2 main Search Engines. FYI over 96% of all searches done in North America are done on these 3 Search Engines.
Search on your brand names as well as your main product/service terms. What Search Engine results listings are you seeing for your company? If your target reads your listing (most searchers only skim the titles looking for the search terms they searched on) will they be likely to click through to your site. Why or why not?
Too often in Search Engine Marketing, listing titles are written to attract the attention of the Search Engines and not the target audience. If your titles are not appealing to your target audience, it does not really matter how the Search Engines 'see' you. When the listing titles were created, was the emphasis on getting as many keywords as possible in the title, or was it on attracting the target audience to relevant content on your site?
Click on the Search Engine results listings through to your site and see if you land on a page that is totally relevant to the search term used to arrive on the page. How would your target react to this page? Does it give your target what he is looking for, in a format he will enjoy? Be honest, has your site kept your target audience in mind? Did your art department 'stylise' the functionally right out of your navigation? Did your content writers write good content? Is your message clear? Does your target audience know what to do and where to go after reading the page content? Are you showing your targets how important their time is to you, by making sure your website pages load quickly?
No matter how good your site is, after this exercise you should have a list of items that will need to be addressed. Now comes the truly difficult part, following through and implementing the necessary changes for a great first impression.
Brenda Wright
Head Sponsored Search Strategist
Enquiro Full Service
Search Engine MarketingCopyright 2005 - Enquiro Search Solutions.